There are few occasions since setting up City & Guilds some 144 years ago when the Livery Companies have worked together towards a single objective. And that’s why we’re delighted that through the City & Guilds Foundation we’re able to support the new and exciting Livery ‘No Going Back’ initiative supporting offender rehabilitation.
At the City & Guilds Foundation supporting the rehabilitation of offenders and former offenders has been a priority for some time. We recognise that there is a need to reduce reoffending and evidence shows that upskilling prisoners, together with stable accommodation and support, is the most effective way to do just that.
We believe that prison doesn’t have to be somewhere where people end up, but instead somewhere people can start again and press re-set.
No Going Back is an innovative programme of training, support, employment, and housing funded and driven by 28 Livery Companies. The programme is designed to get people into employment on release.
We’re delighted that the City & Guilds Foundation is funding a key part of the programme called ‘Kangaroo’. In keeping with one of the roles of the Foundation within City & Guilds, the funding also goes towards measuring the impact of the entire No Going Back programme.
So what is project ‘Kangaroo?’
Kangaroo aims to ensure that potential participants of the bigger No Going Back initiative are assessed and supported to develop through softer skills and wellness modules that help them prepare for successful employment, which in turn will facilitate successful resettlement and reduce reoffending.
The project is taking place in a number of prisons that Bounce Back works in and is being delivered in small cohorts. It was developed specifically in response to some of the challenges that have arisen from not being able to access prisoners during Covid lockdown, and is proving popular when it is run.
The one-off three hour sessions help people to recognise their skills and start to further maximise the key things that will help them to get through interviews and achieve employment. It is offered as part of a partner-led series of modules that includes health and nutrition as well as money management.
We believe that the individual’s transferable skills will open up a range of future pathways encouraging skills development and further education. Each participant will receive a City & Guilds Assured digital badge, which they can then add to their digital CV’s and professional networks (eg. LinkedIn) upon release.
Making an impact
The Covid-19 pandemic has naturally slowed down our ability to get cohorts of learners together in prisons, but we are starting to see that shift and hope that we will see more learners on project Kangaroo in the coming weeks and months. Our goal is to support 200 individuals each year for the next three years.
“We are delighted to have the support of the City & Guilds Foundation on this programme. We know that individuals coming out of Prison in this post-Covid world will be presented with different challenges to what we’ve seen before, and a programme like Kangaroo which is developing those softer skills, has never been more important. We look forward to seeing the impact of this funding and the impact across the entire No Going Back initiative.”
Fran Findlater OBE, Executive Head of No Going Back
The City & Guilds Foundation is delighted to be supporting this programme and we’re really looking forward to seeing the ripple effect play out. And, as with all City & Guilds Foundation programmes, we will be closely tracking the impact of the funding through City & Guilds’ impact measurement framework.